Outside Cable News

Via Inside Cable News/Talking Biz News
Fox Business Network tweaks schedule
By Chris Roush

Fox Business Network is tweaking its schedule as it hits the six-month mark of airing. Talking Biz News hears that the changes will go into effect sometime in early May.

The new schedule will add an hour to the “Fox Business Morning,” which will air from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. After that, “Money for Breakfast” will air for two hours, and then “Opening Bell” with Alexis Glick will air for an hour. “Money for Breakfast” had aired from 6 a.m . to 8 a.m., but now it will be one hour later.

Dagen McDowell and Brian Sullivan, who recently left Bloomberg TV for a job at Fox, will air business news from 10 a.m. to noon. That slot is currently filled by Cheryl Casone and Tom Sullivan.

Tom Sullivan and Casone move to the noon slot, where McDowell and Stuart Varney had previously anchored. Varney will now be on the air by himself from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Liz Claman and David Asman will anchor the 2 p.m. hour and the 4 p.m. hour, with Claman taking the 3 p.m. hour to herself.

Everything after 5 p.m. remains unchanged.

Via NBC10
McCain Plays ‘Hardball’ At Villanova
Republican Sen. John McCain is playing “hardball” with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews.

The “Hardball College Tour” visited Villanova University and students were ready to put some tough questions to the presumed GOP nominee.

Crews spent the day putting the finishing touches on the set and testing camera shots.

“I’m so excited. I can’t believe McCain is coming here,” Hannah Wagner, a Villanova freshman, said.

“I just think it’s really exciting that such an important political figure is coming to Villanova to speak,” Elizabeth Bland, a freshman, said.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee is ready to play hardball with Matthews.

The MSNBC show has been broadcasting from different college campuses and this time it’s Villanova’s turn to play ball.

“You never thought you would be this close to the action but because it’s a big university and stuff it’s kind of special,” Louis Ross, a freshman, said.

“I’m so proud to be able to say I brought politics to the students. I brought it to them,” Matthews said.
(more…)

Via St. Louis Business Journal
Charter to add 8 new HD channels in May

Charter Communications Inc. said Tuesday it plans to add eight new channels in high definition (HD) on May 15 in the St. Louis market.

The eight new HD channels — AMC-HD, CNN-HD, The Learning Channel-HD, Animal Planet-HD, The Science Channel-HD, Smithsonian Channel-HD, TBS-HD and the premium channel The Movie Channel-HD — were picked in a recent survey Charter conducted of its customers.

Spokeswoman Anita Lamont said the cable provider had thousands of requests to add more HD channels so the company polled a a random segment of its customers and those eight channels were the most requested.

>TVNewser reports:

>EXCERPT

Also, co-anchor Kiran Chetry announced this morning that she would be leaving the show for maternity leave. Insiders tell TVNewser that Kyra Phillips (fresh off an assignment in Iraq and moderating a panel in Vegas) will make the move to New York and take over in her absence.

Via ABC News
By Jake Tapper

LGBT Rights Group Faults CNN, Not Candidates, for Choosing Messiah College

“It is our understanding that CNN chose the venue,” Brad Luna, communications director for the Human Rights Campaign, told me in an email, when I asked about the appropriateness of Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, and Barack Obama, D-Illinois, who profess to support gay rights, speaking Sunday night at Messiah College where homosexuality is classified as a sin along with adultery, stealing, and sexual abuse.

“It is an unfortunate choice by CNN and we would rather have seen them hold this forum in a more welcoming environment,” Luna says. “However, this has no reflection on the steadfast commitment Senators Obama and Clinton have shown for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.”

>Read the rest at ABC News.

Via Inquirer
‘Don’t be too CNN’

IF you haven’t seen it yet, here’s a copy of “Don’t be too CNN,” the music video that’s criticizing Western media such as CNN for allegedly demonizing China and coming out with distorted reports on the unrest in Tibet.

Now, I’m not the biggest fan of the Chinese government, though I find a lot to admire about China and its culture. Frankly, however, I can understand the frustration of some Chinese citizens over how Western media portrays their country. For all its claims of being objective, it’s hard not to think of media outlets such as CNN as being biased in presenting the Western viewpoint or version of events. Yup, I know there’s no such thing as complete objectivity, but Western media, intentionally or not, views everything through its own eyes and set of values, which it then tries to apply to the non-Western world.

>Read the rest and check out the video at Inquirer.

Via Gawker
Fox Business’ Failed Ambush

When Dave Logan agreed to appear on Fox Business to promote a book on corporate culture, he probably had some faint hope the six-month-old cable channel was less of a viper pit than its News Corp. sister network, Fox News. Any such delusions were quickly dissolved when host Stuart Varney tore into Logan for being an academic egghead and asked, “This is the United States of America, it is a highly competitive economy, you claw your way up on the backs of others — didn’t you know that?” After Logan stood his ground and recounted the lessons of 11 years inside American corporations, Varney scampered a retreat and tried, unconvincingly, to end on a friendly note. Presumably, Varney will now be forced to spend the next few months in ambush interview boot camp with Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly. Clip after the jump.

>Check out the video at Gawker.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Wolf.

Before we get to the question, a clarification. Last week, during a discussion of the controversy surrounding China’s hosting of the Olympic Games, I said that the Chinese are basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they have been for the last 50 years. I was referring to the Chinese government, and not to Chinese people or to Chinese-Americans.

>Related: China demands CNN apology for “goons” comment

>Earlier: American Chinese demand apology from CNN for insulting Chinese